A Kou
A Kou is a General from Ou Sen Army and the commander of the 1st Division. He is considered the most trusted vassal of Ou Sen. Appearance A Kou is a man with warriors build, long black hair, a scar on his left cheek and a long goatee. He wears a general's armor, long cape, and helmet with claws on the sides. Personality A Kou is a very serious man and rarely shows many emotions. He's also extremely loyal to Ou Sen. History It was mentioned that he served as Ou Sen's number one commander for many years. Story Western Zhao Invasion Arc A Kou made his first appearance when the army arrived at Retsubi. He was eager to capture the gateway of Zhao's inner cities, but Ou Sen decided on the Hi Shin Unit and Yo Tan Wa Army to take down the city instead. He later accompanied Ou Sen for his visit to Gyou. As his lord pointed out that Gyou is a perfect city and will not fall to attacks, Ou Sen decided to formulate a strategy on the spot. They were later noticed by Zhao patrols which outnumbered them two to one. Despite that, A Kou and his unit continued to eliminate those patrols, so they can not disturb his lord from thinking. A Kou was positioned as the commander of Qin’s right-wing during the Battle at Shukai Plains. On the first day, he deployed the Gyoku Hou Unit to the reserves where they could launch precision strikes, much to Ou Hon's chagrin. A Kou then met the Gaku Ei Army in a head-on crash where he easily drove the Zhao forces back. In response, Ba Nan Ji flanked A Kou's forces and punched deep into his ranks with the intention to deal a fatal strike, but was intercepted and stopped by Ou Hon and the Gyoku Hou. A Kou then interrupted their duel and briefly clashed with Ba Nan Ji, which allowed Gaku Ei's army to regroup, leaving the day on a stalemate. On the second day, Zhao led a three-pronged attack to slay Ou Hon. When Chou Ga Ryuu led his forces to pincer the Gyoku Hou alongside Gaku Ei, A Kou sent Ei Ki with 8000 men to save Ou Hon, leading the remainder of his forces to stop Ba Nan Ji who launched a simultaneous assault. After Ou Hon escaped from the pincer and led a small unit into the weak point of Ba Nan Ji's line formation, A Kou, with some annoyance, adjusted his tactics accordingly to cripple Ba Nan Ji's army. After the day was over A Kou congratulates Ou Hon on his success and tells him to come to his tent to discuss strategy. At the start of the 3rd day, Ri Boku sent Gyou'un to the right-wing to reinforce Zhao's now disadvantaged forces as well as to destroy the A Kou Army. Gyou Un's Rai'un penetrated deep into A Kou's formation and was swiftly followed by the Gaku Ei and Chou Ga Ryuu armies, with even Ou Hon's intervention proving futile against such a powerful assault. Only the timely arrival of the Hi Shin Unit, who stalemated Gyou'un's army, enabled A Kou's forces to regroup against the remaining Zhao forces. Despite the heavy damage sustained, the A Kou army remained largely intact. Along with his adjutant Gu Nei and Ou Hon, Akou decided to defeat the Zhao commanders piecemeal, starting with Gaku Ei. On the 9th day, Akou's army was to hold off Gyou'un, Chou Ga Ryuu and Ba Nan Ji's armies while Shin and Ou Hon slew Gaku Ei and his entire army. Using the Shells and Joints Formation, A Kou easily held off all 3 armies until Ba Nan Ji began targeting the joints on the advisement of Ri Boku, a simultaneous attack from Gyou'un allowing Zhao forces to penetrate the formation. Knowing retreat would allow the 3 Zhao armies to reach the Hi Shin and Gyoku Hou units, A Kou opted to slay the swiftly advancing Ba Nan Ji in a duel while deploying Gun Ei to slow down Gyou'un. While A Kou and Ba Nan Ji were evenly matched, Gun Ei was helpless against Gyou’un and was quickly slain, allowing the 2 Zhao generals to double team A Kou. Despite being at an overwhelming disadvantage, A Kou's tenacity and skill enabled him to hold off both his opponents until he was rescued by A Ka Kin, albeit in a state of near-death. A Ka Kin carried A Kou away from the pursuing Zhao forces while the remainder of the A Kou army attempted to isolate Gyou'un and Ba Nan Ji using the Strategem of the Severed Paths. On the 10th day, he’s seen sleeping heavily bandaged up recovering from his wounds. Abilities As the 1st commander in Ou Sen Army and the most trusted vassal of Ou Sen, A Kou possesses great talents and experience as a general. It was said that if he not sworn himself to Ou Sen, he could very well become supreme commander of a large army. Chou Ga Ryuu even noticed that A Kou's capabilities at the time may greatly outstrip that of Ou Hon. His combat abilities are good enough to fight on par with powerful general Ba Nan Ji. He was even able to temporarily hold his ground against Ba Nan Ji and Gyou’un at the same time, although he was eventually overpowered. His unit consists of highly trained soldiers with a lot of experience as they were able to defeat Zhao patrols when outnumbered two to one. He dislikes resorting to subtlety and usually attacks with fearless direct charges. He and his army show superiority in head clashes as they continue to charge head-on without any regard for their wounded soldiers. Despite his straight-forward nature, A Kou seems to possess good insight for tactics. After serving as the Ou Sen Army number one commander for many years he's able to imitate a number of Ou Sen's tactics with exact precision. On offense, he's capable of using Wave Attack Formation. When on the defense he can create a sturdy guard that is difficult to breach even by three different armies. Gallery Trivia *Despite some believing so, Ma Kou and Akou are not brothers. That is because their first names are the same (Kou), rather than their surnames (Ma and A). the Kingdom series uses surnames first (for eg. Mou Ten and Mou bu). Category:Qin Category:Ou Sen Army Category:Generals Category:Glaive Users Category:Sword Users Category:A Kou Army Category:Characters Category:Male Category:Qin Generals